2_9_ScanMag_74_March_2015_Text_Q9_Scan Magazine 1 09/03/2015 23:17 Page 83
Scan Magazine | Attraction of the Month | Denmark
Around 10,000 people visit Struer Museum every year, often with particular interest in the vintage electronic items representing the impressive history of Bang & Olufsen.
Attraction of the Month, Denmark
Experience an industrial adventure that changed a city Only a few companies have influenced a city to such an extent as the electronic giant Bang & Olufsen. At Struer Museum you can take a trip down memory lane, viewing all of the famous appliances. By Nicolai Lisberg | Photos: Struer Museum
Every year around 10,000 people visit Struer Museum to see their many, interesting exhibitions – such as the history of the railroad centre and the house of the famous author Johannes Buchholtz. Visitors come from all over Denmark and during summertime many people from Germany and Holland also stop by the museum. They come in particular to witness the exhibition of the electronic company Bang & Olufsen. “We have all the well-known appliances from Bang & Olufsen and through these we tell the story of a local brand that became one of the strongest international electronic brands. Our visitors often find it amusing to see the radio they used to record their wedding speeches, or the music player they bought with their first salary and so on,” says Jesper Bækgaard, who is the museum director at Struer Museum. The
entire Bang & Olufsen collection was given to the museum in 2008, when the museum’s new prism-shaped premises were inaugurated. “Bang & Olufsen was founded in 1927 on a field just outside Struer, but as time went by it actually became its own city. They had their own lampposts, manhole covers and road signs. These are all things that can be seen at our museum today,” says Bækgaard. The city of Bang & Olufsen slowly grew together with the rest of Struer, but its influence on the city did not stop there. Some of the employees at Bang & Olufsen started working on other things, which led to new companies being founded – for instance Struer Kayak, which for many years dominated the sport and won Olympic and World Cup Medals. “The museum is full of such stories. To
make sure more stories are being added, we encourage our visitors to write down their memories in our city chronicler. It is a database, which can also be found on our webpage, of small stories and knowledge on various topics, where you can explore the different years. We have several digital solutions like this, because we would like people to contribute so they can become part of the future narrative,” says Bækgaard.
For more information, please visit: www.struermuseum.dk
Issue 73 | February 20145 | 83